Chapter 3

STELLA

Just as we finish what he had ordered, Benjamin walks up to us with an older lady,

"Afternoon, Max. I was a little surprised to get your text saying that you were in town already. I wasn't expecting you two until late this afternoon."

"Yes, well, we had a good run, and we will have a lot of unpacking to do. I think the sooner Stella is shown what she needs to do in the morning, the better."

I look at Dad and then at Benjamin. For some reason, I get a bad feeling that the two of them have planned the rest of my life out for me but forgot to include me in the conversation and the final decisions.

"Very good. Now this is Tabitha, Tabitha, this is Stella. She is the one I have hired to help with boss Axel's private floor."

I didn't miss the slight fear that passed through Tabitha's eyes as Benjamin mentioned the Boss, but she covered it up very well as she said,

"Welcome to our little family. Stella."

She then turns to Benjamin.

"Is he home?"

"No, he is out on business. He won't be back until tomorrow around lunch."

"Thank you, Sir. Now have you finished your lunch, my dear?"

"Yes, I just finished."

"Well then, if it is okay with the males, I will give you the tour and let you know where everything is."

Tabitha then looks at Benjamin and then my dad, who both nod. She then holds out her hand to me, saying,

"Come on, dear."

I frowned a little at her, confused that she was asking for any sort of permission; she looked and seemed a little old to have to ask for anything. I don't say anything as I get to my feet and move to her side. She gives Benjamin a slight bow of her head before she starts walking away. I shake my head and move quickly to catch up to her and look around, saying,

"This place is amazing, but may I ask where are we going?"

"We are going there!"

She stops and points to a five-story mansion. I opened my mouth to say something, but nothing would come out. It was beautiful, but what was strange was that there were no fences around it to separate it from the town. One would think that the person who owned it looked to be rich, so it would be common sense for them to separate themselves and their property from the surrounding town.

However, it was like it was part of the town, and they didn't want it blocked off. She then starts walking again. As we enter, I don't miss the strange looks that come my way from everyone inside the mansion. Most looked to be around my age, and most of them looked like they didn't want me there.

Seeming to be aware of the ones within the rooms we pass, Tabitha grabs my arm and pulls me quicker towards a small office, mumbling more to herself than to me,

"The boss better mark you quickly, my dear..."

She then walks into the small office and says,

"Okay, this is my office, and you will report to me before and after every shift. Were you told what time to be here?"

"Yes madam, I start at 5 a.m. till 8:30 a.m. and then again at 4 p.m. till 10 p.m. on weekdays."

"That is good. When you start the morning shift, make sure to be as quiet as possible so as not to wake the Boss, and then when you do the afternoon and evening shifts, make sure to stay out of the Boss's way. I suggest you do his office in the morning and then do his bedroom in the afternoon. That way, he is in one while you clean the other. However, keep your mind on the job and don't touch or meddle with things that are not to do with you. Now that's for during the week, on the weekends..."

She looks at me as she sits down behind a desk, then continues,

"Do you know how to cook?"

"I know a little. My mum was just starting to teach me some of her more complicated dinner dishes. I took over cooking the basics and taught myself more after my mum died, and my dad couldn't seem to look after himself, let alone me."

"Good, here is his weekend run down. On Saturday mornings, he has his breakfast on his own in his office, which you will serve him at 8 am sharp, and then dinner is at 6 pm in his office again. On Sunday, he has breakfast at 9 am in his room, and then we all have Sunday lunch and dinner together." 

I frown when she stops talking and says, 

"Um... Tabitha, there must be a mistake, as my dad never said anything about working weekends. He told me that I get the weekends off.."

Dad explained a little more during the final part of the trip this morning, but if what she was saying was true, and my dad had it wrong, I definitely wouldn't be getting any time to myself. It's like I will be his personal servant.

"I'm sorry, my dear, but it is for every day of the week. If you don't work in town, you work here, and Benjamin has made it very clear that he had arranged for you to work here and only here." 

She then holds out a sheet of paper and a pen as she says,

"Here! Fill this in, and then I will give you a uniform for when you are working."

I take the sheet of paper she hands me and sit down in the chair in front of her desk. I then lean on it so that I can fill in what looks to be a very short but personal questionnaire.

NAME : Stella Sullivan

ADDRESS : To be advised

AGE : 17 nearly 18

SCHOOLING : Last Year High School

WORK EXPERIENCE : Own house cleaning and cooking

RELATIONSHIP STATUS : Single - No boyfriend

SEXUAL STATUS : NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS!!!

After reading and answering the relationship status section, which basically asks if I have a boyfriend, I was surprised by the question that followed. To actually ask if I have ever had sex before was a very personal and private question. However, I then think about my friendship with Whytt and that I would have liked it to be more.

I don't have a boyfriend and haven't since my 16th birthday, even though before I left I would have liked for Whytt to have been that. I have never had sex as the only time I ever thought about actually having sex with anyone. I found him having sex with Savannah, of all people, and they were in my room.

I put single for relationship status, but I allow my attitude to show when I answer the one on sex, as to me that is my business and only my business. I give the sheet of paper back to her. She doesn't even look at it as she puts it to the side and then continues.

"Thank you. Come, I will show you where you will be working and what you will have to do. Now, like all cleaners, even if it hasn't been used you clean it, and his bed sheets need to be changed every second day or whenever he asks for them to be changed. Now, there is a small calendar within your locker for you to keep track of when you change them. I strongly suggest that you use this calendar."

She then takes me to a small elevator at the end of the hall. Tabitha uses a small key card to access it and calls the elevator down to us. We enter the elevator as soon as the doors open, and the only button in there is for the fifth floor. Tabitha swiped the card again, and the elevator moved.

Tabitha led me around the fifth-floor rooms, showing and explaining to me everything that I needed to do, including a brief look at his bedroom and office. The last thing she showed me was the small kitchen where I was to make him breakfast and dinner on Saturday and breakfast on Sunday.

I was surprised, but I shouldn't have been to find that the small fridge and the cupboards were fully stocked. As we make our way back to her office, she says,

"I will see you before your shift in the morning to give you your access key and uniform. Now Bet... Benjamin said that the Al... The boss won't be back until lunch tomorrow, however; you are to still enter the floor as if he is there. Do the work quickly and quietly and keep to yourself and you should have no problems, Miss Sullivan." 

She then opens her office door and says,

"Good day, Miss Sullivan. Benjamin and your dad are waiting for you out the front."

She then turns her back to me, enters her office, and closes the door behind her. I frowned, as I couldn't work out how she would know that my dad and Benjamin were there waiting for me. I didn't see her pick up a phone or anything for them to tell her, but I shrugged it off, something to ponder over later. 

I shake my head at her rudeness as I then make my way out of the mansion and, surprisingly, I meet up with Dad and Benjamin just outside the mansion. Benjamin walks us back to our car and then shows us to our house at the edge of the town.

It is a beautiful little dark brown 2-story cottage, with an even more beautiful garden surrounding and covering one of the sides. I walk up to the door expecting it to be locked, but it opens, and I look back at Benjamin in surprise. He chuckles,

"You are in no danger here, so there is no reason to lock anything up.."

I don't know if I actually believe him, but shrug my shoulders and enter the cottage. I move around the cottage, looking at all the rooms and how nicely they are all decorated downstairs. I then head upstairs to find my room. It didn't take me long to find the room my stuff had been put in. I walk over to the window and look outside.

I smile when I see that it looks out over the backyard and the woods border that. I open the window, close my eyes, and take a deep breath. When I open them, I am sure I see a wolf standing just inside the woods' edge. I leave the window open, and I turn back to the door. I let out a slight scream and stepped back, hitting my lower back on the window seal, I put my hand on my chest and gasped.

"Benjamin, you scared the crap out of me... How long have you been standing there?"

"Not long. Do you like the view?"

He asks as he enters the room and looks around.

"Yeah, it's beautiful!" 

His next question surprises me.

"Do you like wolves, Stella?"

He moves even closer to me,

"They are beautiful animals, but aren't they dangerous?"

"Only if you make them so!"

I freeze as he stops within inches of me and again takes that bit of my fringe that hangs loose and rubs it between his thumb and index finger again. He then leans next to my ear and whispers,

"You are very beautiful, Stella, and here's a small warning for you... Don't tease a wolf if you don't want it to bite."

I look at him, confused as he pulls back from next to my ear, kisses my lips gently, turns and walks back out of my room. I am a little dumbfounded and just stand there and stare at my open door. He looks young around my age, but for some reason, I feel like he is much older.

I am brought back to reality by the ping of a message on my phone. I move away from the window, pick up my phone, and smile as I see a message from Macy.

'Hey girl, how's the new house and town...'

I walked over to my door and closed it, as I decided it was probably a better idea to ring her and talk to her rather than send ten million messages trying to explain. As it rings, I put it on loudspeaker and start to open my pile of boxes. She answers after the third ring,

"Hey, girl!"

"Hey yourself!"

"So how's the house? Are there any cute guys in town?"

"MACY! The house is actually a small 2-story cottage. It's beautiful, and I was only in the town for a little while so I didn't see if there were any cute guys around. However, my vision of cute and your vision of cute are 2 way different ideas..."

We both laugh as she then says.

"Maybe I need to come there and check them out for myself..."

We both laugh again before she becomes serious and asks,

"Why didn't you tell me you were going? That you were leaving?"

"I didn't know until I got home early Friday, and then Dad and I got into an argument over it. I told him that I wasn't going, that I was staying and finishing school..."

"I gather he didn't take that too well?"

"Nope... Macy, he then told me that he had arranged for me to work for his Boss, however, he is getting me to work for his Boss who happens to be the Big Boss of the whole company..." 

I don't miss the surprise in her voice as she says, 

"Really! Why make you work? You have school?"

"Yes really, Dad said that if I didn't go, and accept the work, then he would lose his job altogether..."

"That's low even for your Dad. Do you know what you will be doing?"

"Cleaning mostly with a little cooking on the weekends."

"Damn!! At least you know how to cook, and your cooking is amazing!"

"Thanks..."

I sit on the edge of the bed and sigh before continuing

"Macy.."

"What is it, Stella?"

I was going to talk to her about Benjamin and the kiss he gave me, but then I realised that I would never get off the phone with her and I wouldn't get any unpacking done. as she would then want to know everything about him down to the finest detail, I chicken out saying,

"Oh, it's nothing..." 

I then realised that I hadn't heard from Whytt and asked,

"So, do you know if Whytt went to Max's party? Do you know if he was stupid enough to hook up with Savannah?"

"Sorry Stella, but I haven't seen him, and I probably won't until tomorrow at school."

"Okay, well, I must go. I have a lot of unpacking to do and would you believe my job starts at 5 am?"

"Tell me you're joking, girl? There is no way you would catch me up at that hour!!"

"No, I am not joking, and it's hard to catch you up at any hour..."

We both laugh again

"I'll talk to you again later. Love you, girl!"

"Love you too, girl! Don't forget about me!!"

I smile as I hang up the phone and head downstairs to see what Dad wants to do for dinner. I laugh, as I should have known that he would have asked for pizza, his favourite.

I smile as we spend the rest of the day unpacking and for the first time in a long time; I allow Dad to order pizza for dinner, as we are too busy. Besides, I didn't feel like cooking. Now, if what Tabitha said was true and everyone ate dinner together on a Sunday, I guess once we had settled in, we would be eating with everyone else tonight. However, I guess with it being our first night here; we weren't invited.